Attachment for beer-cases.



Patented Sept. 13,1910.

In!) hill U C.

G. G. KERKOW, DECD.

B. xnnxow; ADMINIBTEATBIX. ATTACHMENT FOR BEER GASES.

APPLICATION FILEDv JULY 26,1907.

WIT/E5553 UNITED s'rlrrns lfATiENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV C. KERKOW, OF FREMONT, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR (11 ONE-HALF TO JOHNGUMB, or FREMONT, NEBRASKA; EMMA GUSTAV C. KERKOW, DECEASED.

ATTACHMENT FOR I BEER-CASES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

Application filed July 26. 1907. Serial No. 385,746.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAV C. Kumxow, a

.u-itizen of the United States, residing at Frein light bottles,

merit, in the county of Dodge and State of." )ebraska, have inventedcertain new and ment intended as an inside hand-hold cover,

that is a cover for excluding light, cold and damp 'trom the openings inthe heads or ends oflthe-case usually provided to afford a hold for thehands in liftin or handling the case. The chief purpose of suchattachment ,1 is to protect bottled liquids more'especially bottledbeer,

I from the deteriorating influence 'of light. As well known, all beerpackaged when exposed to light, even {through the hand-holes in theheads or ends of; the case, will invariably deteriorate -in taste andflavor, become moreor less cloudy,

. reta and acquire a noxious odor known among brewers as isk'unky. Sincelight bottles have come 'into general use, much beer is spoiled in thismanner,. in transportation or 's ipsing as well as-whllekepton hand byers and consumers, To avoid this trouble, it has. been customary, whenshipping beer in light bottles, to wrap the bottles ,1 in" coloredtissue-paper or in paste board" ser wrappers, which, of course,- incursextra trouble and expense for each and every shipment. Specialconstructions of ship'- I mg-casesihave also been devised with hand-'oles" jadeorarranged to excludethe light, but such constmctions, besidesinvolving an objectionable departure from the stan ard 915 bee r-casesuniversally the trade have also been more expensive and heavier than theregular beer-cases. To 1n- I crease-the costof the cases is, whollyimpracticable.

of course,

pers,,who pay about fifty or sixty cents for their beer-cases, chargethe same-to the "re-' tailer or consignee, and credit or refund thev,cost' upon of the cases. I But where used and demanded'by Brewers andship- B the lidor cover thereof,'and

beer is shipped to distant points, frequently the cases are not returnedon account of freight or express charges; for which reason, amongothers, any increase in the cost of the cases would meet the oppositionof the trade. It'is likewise impracticable to materially increase theweight of he cases, not

only because of theobjection to handling KERKOW ADMINISTRATRIX OF SAIDheavier cases, but also on account of increased express charges whichwould amount to a considerable aggregate for a large cons1 mnent. Asidefrom special constructions of cases, which have not found favor and havenot come lnto general use, the only mode of excluding lightfrom thehandholes, so far as l am aware, has been by afiixing flat boards orplates on the insides of the cases over the hand-holes; but suchcontrivances are impracticable and almost uselessfor beer-cases, sincethey allow only the ti s ofthe fingers to beinserted in the handoles tolift a weight from 100 to 150 pounds, which is the weight of a full shipping-case for beer.

In'view of the foregoing, the object of my invention is to provide avery simple, cheap and practicable attachment, which can be expense, andwhich can e readily applied as an inslde hand-hole cover to the standardor ordinary beer-cases now in umversal use,

in'such manner as to exclude the li ht while "yetafi'ording anample'hold for t e hands to lift the heavy cases. I

In the accompanying drawings, which are tobe ,-.t:aken.as a part of thisspecification;

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the head or end'portion of anordinary wooden vmadetand furnished in uantities at slight shipping-casefor beer, showing my improved attachment or hand-hole cover appliedthereto. Fig. 2 is an inside view of a fragment of the head of theshippingv case, with the attachment covering the hen hole thereof, aportion of said attachment beingbroken away to disclose the hand-hole Iwhic is also indicated in'part by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a perspectiveviewfof the ,attachment.

In said drawings, the letter A 'denotes'one.

ping case, I the usual slot-like o ening provided in ,thehead forinserting t e hand to lift the case.

of the :heads .or. ends of the shi D (leiiotesmy improved attachment orhand-hole cover, which as shown comprises a dish-like plate ofconcavo-convex .forni having a marginal flange d, saidattachinent beingapplied with its hollow or concave side facing the hand-hole, C,'W1thitsmarginal fianged affixed to the inner face 0 1 the head "A by anysuitable means, as by tacking or nailing it thereto; for which purposethe 'said 'fiange (Z is shown provided with aperturestl to receive thefastening tacks or nails. t V

The attachment Iis'so applied as to pro- .vide a' hollow chambered coverbehind and above the hand-hole, so as-to permit the hand 'to enterand'obtain the usual firm grip in the hand-hole, the same as it thecover were not attached,- as shown n Fig. 1; said cover-accommodatingthe knuckles and fillgers inside thecase. In other words, when the coverD is affixed on the inside of the v marginal flange d surrounds thebottom andcase, the bottom and side portions of its side edges of thehandhole, while the upper portion, of the cover extends to or toward thetop of the case and is aflixed at a distance above the hand-hole. Thedepth of the cover is sufficient to accommodate the knuckles and lingerswhen the hand is gripping thefhand-hold', and this without havingto're'cess the inner face or otherwise destroy the integrity of the wallof the case.

- The cover is not, however, of a depth to inbott e cases, whichiare.latelycoming into use. When applied to" such steel or meta-l1sheet-metal,

stamped or formed from papler-mach or 1 ter fere with the bottles, whichare indicated 35 tion, of the hand-holes places the cover above theshoulders of the bottles, so that the cover-comes besides thebottle-necks.-

in Fig.1 by the letter E. The usual loca- This attachment is desirablymade of metal, preferably stamped from sheet-metal,

as; jgalvanizedflsheetiron or other suitable It may also be pressed,

other suitable material. The device is also ada tedfor attachment tosteel or metal vz'lses. the nnirginal fiaiiged may bd riveted to theheads or ends oi the case.

it will be seen that the attachment can .be manufactured cheaply, as bystamping Ltroin sheet-metal and easily atlixed to the cases, by tackingto ordinary wooden cases or riveting to steel or metal cases, so thatneither the cost her the weight of the cases are increased by theattachment ex cept in an insignificant degree. The device is stronganddurable, and will out-last the life of the ordinary wooden cases t-heinselves; so that when the cases become worn out or broken the attachmentmay be transferred to other cases if desired, though the cheapness oithe attaeiinjient would. obviate any need'ot considering its furtheruse. In

addition he excluding: light, while yet allow-' in the usual facilitrfor enterin the hand and lifting the case, the attachment alsorectangulan concavoeonvex dishdike cover composed of sheet material andattached to the inner face of the case, said cover being disposed'Wi'tll its concavity facing and wholly inclosing the hand-hole, and theupper edge of the cover being disposed .snfticie'ntly above the uppermargin of the hand-hole to accommodate and protect the fingers of thehand when grasping the case.

while at the same iiiliie shielding the contents of the box from theexterior.

In testimony whereof I atlix ily-signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

' GUSTAV C. KERKQW.

Witnesses: I

GEO. F. Loosonns, JOHN SGHIPMANN.

